The present invention relates to logistics equipment. In particular, the invention relates to logistics crates.
The tools used in present-day logistics of consumer products include cell trays, prismatic crates of different sorts, dollies, pallets, and such. Cell trays are mostly suited for transporting products, which can withstand external vertical loads so that products, such as beverage bottles, are loaded onto the trays, which can be then stacked on top of each other. Cell trays are a very advantageous way of transporting sturdy containers, since they take up very little space and enable handling by forklift. Certain consumer product packages, however, are not designed to withstand external vertical loads but rather to act as a protective shell to the contents. There is indeed a trend in the packaging industry to minimize packaging material not only for economic reasons but environmental impacts as well. This development affects the load carriers used in transporting such non-self supporting goods as cell trays, for example, cannot be used. Instead, such products are packed and transported in various kinds of crates that can be used in forming stacks. The crates are typically collapsible or they have a rigid frame. The rigid frame crates usually have a bottom piece, to which is fixed four opposing side walls that have handles of some sort. More popular are crates with four foldable walls, wherein the four walls are foldable for collapsing the crate so that the crate takes up minimal space during return logistics.
However, known foldable crates for non-self-supporting packages feature considerable disadvantages. Known collapsible crates have been found rather labor intensive and lacking display value as the goods have to be unloaded from the stack of crates and shelved. Traditional crates are therefore less user friendly because the goods need to be removed from the crate before they can be set up for sale into exhibiting trays, for example.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a way of transporting non-self supporting goods to the place of commerce with minimal staff involvement in setting the goods up for display. It is a particular aim to establish a crate which could be directly used for displaying the goods to the customer.